Amir `praying` to earn ICC reprieve to play domestic cricket

Johannesburg: Banned Pakistani pace bowler Mohammad Amir is reportedly praying that he earns a reprieve from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to play domestic cricket as he seeks to resume his stalled career.

Amir served three months in an English jail for corruption and is three years into a five-year ban for his role in a spot-fixing scandal during a Test against England at Lord`s in 2010, along with former captain Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif. According to Sport24, Amir said he prayed that the ICC gives him a second chance as he wants to rectify the `mistake` he made in 2010, which he branded as `terrible` and `wrong`, adding that he had paid the price for it by losing his image and hurting his family and country. Stating that he wants to start playing again, Amir, who has represented Pakistan in 14 Tests, 15 ODIs and 18 T20s, further said that he has learnt his lessons and that it has been frustrating for him not being able to play cricket, which is his passion. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), currently run by an interim committee headed by Najam Sethi, will take up Amir`s case at an ICC board meeting this weekend and plead for a review of his ban on legal and compassionate grounds, the report added.